The Royal Hawaiian Band is one of the oldest performing bands in the country and come this weekend, it will be out with the old and in with the new.

“These are brand new Mamo Howell uniforms and the beautiful print is called roselani, or heavenly rose,” said Denby Dung, clarinetist and mistress of ceremony.

The band will continue to wear the traditional white uniform and sash for semi-formal occasions, but the new uniform will be worn at casual performances.

“Everybody likes a change. Sometimes when it goes so long and it can be traditional, but in this case, it’s not traditional. It’s the same ol’, same ol’ and I think a new design and print is very exciting,” designer Mamo Howell said.

Inspired by the quilt designs of her mother and grandmother, Howell created the print exclusively for the band with the hope of refreshing their appearance.

“And I think the new, blue-greenish look will be received very well and it will definitely be seen wherever we go, but I think it’s a nice contemporary look,” Band Master Clarke Bright said.

With more than two dozen members who perform an average of 350 concerts a year, having new uniforms created specially for them…

“It’s very important. It pays homage to our history and our past, but also takes us very strongly into the future,” Dung said.

“I think the sheer fact of just having something new and different will automatically give more respect and hopefully a chance to dive in to what we do a little more. So eventually, the sound will improve and get better and better,” Bright said.